1966 Chevy Nova TCI Pro Touring IFS - Dual Personality

TCI'S New Pro Touring IFS Nova Subframe Will Work For Straight-Line Assaults Or Twisty Road Handling.

When building a project, sometimes you know from the start exactly what the car will be used for, like street, drag racing or road racing/open track. Because these things require different parameters and settings, the parts installed will be fairly different. Thanks to Total Cost Involved (TCI), you don't have to make that decision if you are building a '62-67 Nova. The company has spent a lot of time in the R&D department developing a new tubular subframe front end suspension that it says can be used for all of them.

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Sal Solorzano of TCI said, "With the popularity of autocrossing and road racing growing every day, we decided to build a no-compromise front end that will not break the bank. This is a completely new design with the best possible handling characteristics in mind."

The new front clip features two different mounting points for the upper control arms, one for standard street/drag racing and one for Pro Touring that provides a more aggressive negative camber gain. Another added benefit is the reduction in weight; the TCI Pro Touring IFS is 66 pounds lighter than a stock front end even when fitted with a 12-inch Wilwood brake package (and that includes the aluminum inner fender panels).

This clip is a true bolt-in piece requiring no modifications to the body of the car. As a matter of fact, the clip mounts bolt directly to the factory subframe holes and have all the proper mounting points for your sheetmetal. Going back to the making decisions side of it, TCI also took the time to figure out engine mounts for all small-block, big-block or LS engine applications so you don't have to make that decision right away either. A few other good things the clip provides are as follows: increased ground clearance while keeping ride height and the center of gravity low, the new inner panels allow wider wheel and tire setup, and the new engine mount placement provides more room for the steering shaft and exhaust.

The front clip comes standard with GM big-bore calipers and 11-inch drilled and slotted rotors, TCI coilovers with 300-pound springs, 2.5 turn lock-to-lock rack-and-pinion, 2-inch drop spindles, 1 inch performance sway bar, tubular control arms, aluminum inner fender panels, and all the hardware necessary to install. TCI also offers upgrades in the way of big brake kits, steering columns, double adjustable coilovers, air ride, and the company even offers radiators and headers to help finish off your project.

We took a trip over to TCI headquarters in Town, California, as Geoffrey and George Oka installed the clip onto the company's '66 Nova. This car is slated to compete in our 2010 Super Chevy/Nitto Tire Suspension & Handling Challenge later this year so look to that story for how well it performs. This story will map out how simple the clip is to install.

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1966 Chevy Nova TCI Pro Touring IFS - Dual Personality

Here is all the stuff you get when you order the TCI Pro Touring IFS. It comes standard with single-adjustable billet coilovers and 11-inch brakes. The clip is made in America out of US DOM steel. The parts come in raw steel, but the ones you see here have been powdercoated. It's a good idea to install the clip in its raw state before painting or powdercoating it because every car is a little different. The clip is also backed with an unlimited warranty on the fabricated parts. One more item not included is the steering shaft, because you have a couple of options. You can modify the stock column shaft or purchase an aftermarket unit, but that is for you to decide.

Before getting into the install, we took a trip over to the manufacturing end of the building to see one of these clips being TIG welded up in a jig.

Obviously, before you can install the new clip, the front of the car needs to be torn down to bare bones. Since this clip was installed before being powdercoated the car was basically ready to go. The Oka brothers got right into it by lifting the clip into place.

The clip attaches to the car in the stock mounting points...

...with new Grade 8 hardware.

To provide more stability, TCI incorporates a set of adjustable 1.25-inch diameter down tubes. These will be used to not only stabilize the clip, but they will also true up the clip to the body.

A digital gauge is set on the bottom of the car and zeroed out...

...Then it's placed on the clip and the bars are adjusted until the gauge reads zero, again, before being locked in place with the jam nuts on the Heim joints.

The control arms come with urethane bushings that need to be greased up before the center shafts are installed.

The assembled arms are then installed on the clip. This shot shows the two different mounting points on the clip and how TCI gets the dual-purpose moniker. The lower point is the autocross position while the upper is for street/drags. In the lower holes you can get 5 degrees of positive caster and 1.5 degrees of negative camber. These settings will improve high-speed stability, help the car track straight, and improves the tires' contact patch during a turn. In the upper mounting position, the car will be aligned with normal street specs and will steer nice and easy.

TCI makes the coilovers so they slip in like a glove. The springs have a 300-pound rating, which is good for a small-block application. Higher spring rates are available for you big-block fans.

The new (not rebuilt) manual rack attaches just like in late-model cars with two large bolts. When upgrading to power steering TCI uses a factory '84-89 T-Bird rack so if you need service parts you can get them from a local parts supplier.

The 2-inch drop spindles and 11-brake package mounts between the new ball joints in the control arms. Again, TCI has multiple brake upgrades available all the way up to massive 14-inch Wilwood's with six-piston calipers.

The sway bar comes next and mounts to the frame with urethane bushings and gold cad-plated straps.

The outer end of the sway bar hooks to the lower arm on these adjustable Heims so you can adjust once you get the ride height set with the coilovers.

Here is what the standard system looks like once you have it all assembled.

Just so you could see it, George installed a 14-inch system on the passenger side. If you want maximum stopping power, this is what you will want to order.

For street abuse the standared 11-inch rotors and big bore GM calipers will be vast improvement over the factory drums.

Here is the aftermarket steering shaft that has been adapted to the factory column with two universal joints. This car will eventually receive an aftermarket column so this was temporary just to show it can be done.

Now is the time to surround the clip with sheetmetal. Step one is to install these hood hinge supports. They bolt into factory holes so, again, no drilling is necessary.

The core support sits on the new front frame horns just like stock.

The 0.50-inch thick aluminum fender panels will seal up the engine compartment and make it look nice and clean to boot.

All the holes you need to bolt the panels in are predrilled and ready to go, just like these on the core support.

The hood hinges received a small spacer that is provided in the kit before being bolted in place.

Now the fenders can be hung and the gap adjusted with shims just like you would do with a stock car.

Again, all the proper holes are predrilled and in the right place.

With the installation of the hood, you can see that there is no way to tell what you have lurking beneath your car. As you can tell, this clip goes on very easy and definitely can be installed at home with no special tools. Once TCI has the car finished it will be used in our upcoming Suspension Challenge. We will put the car through its paces at that event and report on how well this new clip really works. With the quality of components used and TCI's reputation, we are sure this car will work pretty dang well.

As our fifth installment, the 2012 Super Chevy Suspension and Handling Challenge returned as we saw the latest and greatest in action. See for yourself in the January 2013 issue of Super Chevy Magazine. » Read More